<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/07/closing-the-gap-agreement-indigenous-outcomes-update-reforms>
"The
Closing the Gap agreement on improving Indigenous outcomes will fail
without fundamental changes, the Productivity Commission has warned, adding
that successive governments have “failed to fully grasp” the challenges.
In a scathing report, the Productivity Commission has called for urgent changes
to rescue the landmark agreement, accusing the federal government of “weak”
action on key areas, not fulfilling its promises and a “disregard” for the
suggestions of Indigenous communities. It says efforts to eliminate
institutional racism in areas such as justice and health have “received little
effort”.
“Most critically, the Agreement requires government decision-makers to accept
that they do not know what is best for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people,” the
Closing the Gap review states.
“Change can be confronting and difficult. But without fundamental change, the
Agreement will fail and the gap will remain.”
The Labor government has so far resisted revealing its next plans in Indigenous
affairs policy, after the unsuccessful referendum for an Indigenous voice last
October.
The prime minister Anthony Albanese, the Indigenous Australians minister, Linda
Burney, and the National Indigenous Australians Agency have repeatedly dodged
questions on whether the government will advance the Makarrata commission for
agreement-making with Indigenous Australians, fuelling speculation Labor may be
preparing to wind back its commitment to treaty and truth processes.
The Productivity Commission report states bluntly that the agreed reforms under
Closing the Gap “have not been prioritised by governments”. The four key
targets – shared decision-making, building the community-controlled sector,
transforming government organisations and sharing access to data – are not
being met.
“Although there are pockets of good practice, overall progress against the
Priority Reforms has been slow, uncoordinated and piecemeal,” the report
states. It accuses governments of paying little attention to the needs of
individual communities, following a business-as-usual approach and having “no
strategic approach” on how to meet the targets."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
